Patient care was uppermost in the minds of West Midlands Ambulance chiefs when they ordered a new fleet of 4×4 Mercedes-Benz Sprinters. Clinical team mentors Karen Chambers and Tony Mason are wearing broad smiles as they step down from the all-wheel drive vehicle in which they have just successfully negotiated a demanding off-road course. "Brilliant! Really impressed," declares Karen. "This is going to be great for getting onto sports pitches and other rough ground, where we'd have sunk up to our axles in a conventional ambulance," adds Tony. The vehicle in question is one of 16 4x4 Mercedes-Benz Sprinters commissioned by West Midlands Ambulance Service. All are based on 5.0-tonne 519 BlueTEC 4x4 vans powered by 140 kW (190 hp) V6 engines that meet Euro VI emissions regulations. Their ambulance conversions, meanwhile, are by leading specialist Wilker. Emergency Services Director Craig Cooke and his team have brought together a group of ambulance staff from across the region, to put some of the new ambulances through their paces. The rationale is simple: "We're breaking new ground with these vehicles," explains Cooke. "They're comprehensively-equipped, full-sized, stretcher-bearing ambulances, and as such represent a radical departure from the car-derived 4x4s we were using previously for off-road work."
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